subject: Call Accounting ' The Options [print this page] Call Accounting ' The Options Call Accounting ' The Options
Before considering any particular call accounting product, a potential user should make a short specification detailing in simple terms their telecommunications environment and what management functions must be achieved. Once you have clear idea of your goals or your expected outcomes you can begin to investigate the various offerings.Call Accounting can be delivered in 3 basic guises.Stand alone, traditionally delivered as a software package. The installer uses a CD or DVD to load a local computer with software and then enables it with a license key. These stand alone software packages can vary in price amazingly, also the features they provide can range from basic to very complex.Dependent upon the customers telecoms environment and the product characteristics, these software packages may run on standard computer hardware or may require dedicated servers and additional database licenses.Outsourced Services - An outsource company will collect call records from all your PBX, and centrally process the data to create call accounting reports. These services can be tailored to your specific requirements or you can opt for a standard service package. This service is best suited to larger organizations as the fees are not trivial. Service providers deploy top of the range high end software and know how to use it to maximum benefit. They have in depth telecommunications experience and can do the job very efficiently. Some of these companies offer consulting as an additional service layer. This arrangement can be very rewarding for the large corporate customer particularly if they do not have a dedicated telecommunications department. The consultative process often uncovers a myriad opportunities, small and large, to improve the client's telecoms environment, reducing costs and adding useful functionality. The client can sometimes negotiate a performance based fee for services ensuring the consultant remains clearly focused on the customers objectives.A Web based call accounting service is another option worth consideration. These Internet based services collect call records or CDR automatically from the your PBX and process them centrally. You have access to reports via a user name and password on the Web.There is no doubt that Internet based call accounting is a managed service, automatically notifying interested parties when a problem is suspected and monitored 24/7/365, up-time in the five 9s, data backup, disaster recovery plans and functionality standalone software cannot hold a candle to. Because these companies are expert at utilizing their investment dollars to the full they are able to offer services at very low cost. Call Accounting on steroids.When contemplating an investment in Call Accounting investigate carefully the benefits of Internet based services. You may be surprised at the low cost, high reliability and features available. These systems certainly offer extremely high return for a comparatively low investment.
